Wai‘anae Ecological Characterization

Ka Po‘e
The People

Environmental Management

Over the years, the U.S. Congress and presidents have enacted a series of environmental laws and policies to address the degradation of the nation's natural resources. Explicit statutory authority to restore degraded natural resources began with the Clean Water Act amendments in 1977 to protect coastal and inland surface waters, and continued through enactments of:

  • The Safe Drinking Water Act to protect drinking water
  • The Clean Air Act to protect air quality
  • The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to manage hazardous and solid wastes
  • The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund) to protect the environment from past releases of hazardous substances
  • The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to consider the consequences of major federal actions on human and natural aspects of the environment in order to minimize, where possible, adverse impacts

More information on these and other federal environmental laws can be found at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/lawregs.htm.

Specific to coastal resources, the National Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) was created to preserve, protect, develop and, where possible, restore and enhance coastal resources. Specific provisions of the CZMA provide for the development of special area management plans and programs for the control of coastal pollution. These laws led the State of Hawai‘i to develop protection programs with the goal of enhancing environmental quality for the people of Hawai‘i.

photo of trash and algae accumulating in a stream

Excessive nutrients contribute to pollution in streams.

Source: CZM Hawai‘i

The Hawai‘i Coastal Zone Management Program was established in 1977 under the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA) in response to the CZMA. The state program encompasses the entire state including all marine waters seaward to the extent of the state's police power and management authority, including the 12-mile U.S. territorial sea and all archipelagic waters. The State of Hawai‘i program is a federally approved coastal management program, and therefore Hawai‘i receives matching grants from the federal government to help achieve the CZMA goals through the implementation of state coastal zone management programs.

This section includes discussion regarding specific federal, state, and local agencies responsible for overseeing and implementing these environmental programs and natural resources, as well as specific discussion regarding storm water runoff, shoreline erosion, and solid waste management.

Related Reference

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). 2004. Major Environmental Laws and Regulations Web Page. http://www.epa.gov/epahome/laws.htm

Back to top